You’ve made the decision—or are close to making it—to partner with a digital marketing agency. This partnership marks the beginning of an exciting journey, one that will be filled with strategic planning, data-driven insights, and the potential for significant growth. But before celebrating your future successes, it’s essential to prepare your team for this new venture.

#1 Break the News (Without Causing a Panic)

First things first, you need to tell your team about the new partnership. Schedule a team meeting and start with something like, “Good news, everyone! We’re not replacing you with AI… yet. Instead, we’re partnering with a marketing agency to help us crush our goals!” 

Be prepared for questions like:

• “Are we in trouble?” (No, unless you count our current social media strategy.)
• “Will I lose my job?” (Only if your job title is ‘Professional Procrastinator’.)
• “Do we have to wear pants to video calls now?” (Yes, please. For everyone’s sake.)

#2 Explain the ‘Why’ 

Your team needs to understand why you’re bringing in outside help. Skip the corporate jargon and keep it real:

“Look, folks, we’re good at what we do. But let’s face it, our last viral moment was when Jim’s cat interrupted that Zoom call. We’re bringing in experts to help us level up our game and take some work off our plates. Think of it like hiring a personal trainer but for our marketing muscles.”

#3 Define Roles and Responsibilities (AKA Who’s Doing What Now?)

Clarity is key here. You don’t want your team playing a game of “Not It” when it comes to working with the agency. Break it down:

• “Sarah, you’ll be our point person for the agency. It means you’ll be coordinating between us and them. You’ll direct where documents go and when they get sent”
• “Tom, you’ll be handling data and analytics. Try not to get too excited about spreadsheets – we can see you jumping from here.”
• “And Jessica, you’ll be our creative liaison. Yes, that means you get to use ‘liaison’ in your email signature now.”

#4 Address the Elephant in the Room: Change

Change can be scarier than realizing you hit ‘reply all’ to a company-wide email. Acknowledge this fact with the group:

“I know change can be intimidating. It means our processes may be shifting around a bit. But this change is going to make our lives easier and improve our bottom line (and hopefully your payday!) “

Encourage your team to see this as an opportunity to learn new skills, gain fresh perspectives, and maybe finally figure out what ‘SEO’ actually stands for.

#5 Set Expectations (Without Setting the Bar So High You Need a Ladder)

Be clear about what you expect from your team during this transition:

“We’re not expecting miracles overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a solid Instagram following. What we do expect is open minds, collaboration, and maybe fewer cat memes in our Slack channels.”

Expectations should ideally align with your goals. If your organization has organized goals, go ahead and bring those back out to remind the group what it is you’re aiming to do and provide some practical objectives worth aiming for. 

#6 Prepare for the Integration Process (It’s Like a First Date But With More Spreadsheets)

Warn your team that the first week or two might feel a bit like an awkward first date (although at Onya, we hope to put you at ease quickly). There will be lots of questions, maybe some nervous laughter, and definitely some confusion about who’s supposed to pick up the check (metaphorically speaking, of course).

“Expect a lot of meetings early on. Yes, I heard that groan. But look on the bright side – it’s a great excuse to finally clean your home office for those video calls!”

The good news is that the discovery phase is intended to take work off your plate and get the group pointed in the right direction. Hopefully a welcome phrase for your team!

#7 Emphasize Communication (Not the “Reply All” Kind)

Stress the importance of clear, open communication with the agency:

“Remember, these folks can’t read our minds. If they could, they’d be in a very different line of work. So let’s use our words, people. No emojis or hand signals.”

As stated above, working through one or two key individuals usually streamlines work and questions, but use this time to voice your thoughts and provide feedback on your experience up until this point. 

#8 Celebrate the Small Wins (Because Who Doesn’t Love a Good Party?)

Encourage your team to acknowledge and celebrate progress, no matter how small:

“Did we get ten new followers this week? Break out the party hats! Did our bounce rate drop by 0.5%? That calls for at least a solid high-five. Remember, in the world of digital marketing, we take our wins where we can get them.”

#9 Prepare for a Learning Curve

Remind your team that there’s going to be a learning period:

“We’re about to drink from the marketing firehose, folks. Some days we might feel like we’re drowning in acronyms and analytics. On other days, we’ll feel like digital marketing ninjas. Just remember – even ninjas had to start somewhere.”

We promise that the learning curve is much faster than you think and that Digital Marketing Agencies are there to act as a guide, not a stressor. 

#10 Keep the End Goal in Mind 

Finally, remind everyone why you’re doing this:

“At the end of the day, we’re here to grow our business, reach more customers, and maybe, just maybe, create a TikTok video that doesn’t make us look like total dorks. With this agency partnership, we’re one step closer to all of those goals. Except maybe the TikTok one – let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Preparing your team for a new marketing partnership doesn’t have to be a pain. With the right attitude, a bit of humor, and maybe some strategically timed snack breaks, you can get everyone on board and excited for the road ahead.

Remember, partnering with a marketing agency isn’t admitting defeat – it’s arming yourself with a secret weapon. It’s like having a really smart friend who’s always up on the latest trends and knows how to make your brand look good (even on Mondays).

So rally the troops, put on your game faces (or your best Zoom filters), and get ready to take your marketing to the next level. Who knows? With your awesome team and your new agency partners, you might just become the next big thing.